It's in the middle of the week that we find the Olympians, which is extremely rare this season given the absence of the European Cup. It's for a 16th in the Coupe de France final, against an opponent at the top of the Ligue 1 table, Lille, who came to take a point at the Vélodrome last month in the championship.
Geoffrey Kondogbia, Amine Harit, Valentin Carboni, Elye Wahi and Faris Moumbagna are still injured while Ruben Blanco, Emran Soglo and Chancel Mbemba are out of the group, ready to pack their bags during the current Mercato. Luiz Felipe, who arrived a week ago, is still preparing to be ready in the coming days. Roberto De Zerbi aligns his now usual 5-3-2/3-5-2 with only rotation: Jeffrey de Lange is in goal, captain Leonardo Balerdi is the most central defender, Michael Murillo is right stopper, Derek Cornelius is a left stopper; Quentin Merlin moves in the left lane and Luis Henrique on the other side; Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Valentin Rongier are the defensive midfielders with Adrien Rabiot closer Mason Greenwood and Neal Maupay the two attackers.
Geronimo Rulli, Pol Lirola, Ulisses Garcia, Lilian Brassier, Bamo Meïté, Bilal Nadir, Ismaël Koné, Robinio Vaz and Jonathan Rowe complete the score sheet while Jelle Van Neck and Darryl Bakola are finally in the stands.
The first half was balanced with two very good teams and there was no goal before the break.
Lille started the second half strong and opened the scoring midway through the second half. OM switched to 4-4-2 at the end of the match, pushed and equalized on the last action in an unexpected way with a superb strike from Luis Henrique.
The shots on goal lean towards Lille with two Olympian failures and none on the northern side.
Man of the match
Leonardo Balerdi (7.5): author of very good interceptions, some quite high, he had an impeccable first half. After a duel won in his area against David at the start of the second half where he was stepped on the knee, he made a great tackle in the middle of the second half to avoid a duel with his goalkeeper. Third shooter in the penalty shootout, he scored with a counter-foot to conclude one of his best performances this season.
The other players
Jeffrey Lange (5): again preferred to Rulli for the Cup, the Dutchman started with an easy aerial ball at the quarter-hour mark then a strike from Cabella that was just as easy to block. Powerless to open the score, he did not go out on a deep ball but diverted the Lille player's shot. Of the four shots on goal, he hit one (the second) which he did not deflect enough.
Luis Henrique (6): narrowly beaten by a defender on a great cross while he was in front of the northern goal at the start of the match, he took the corners from the right without danger. Author of a loss of ball in front of his area on the kick-off of the second half which was at the origin of the goal refused to Lille, he then made a too soft shot at the goalkeeper. The Brazilian was above all the author of the gesture of this meeting with this fantastic strike at the end of stoppage time to equalize. Unfortunately, he didn't kick the second shot on goal well which was returned by the goalkeeper.
Quentin Merlin (5): the player in the left lane was quite discreet even if he took the corner from the left. He came out during the break.
Ulisses Garcia (4): entered Merlin's place and position from the start of the second half, he started by losing a ball and we then saw very little of him.
Michael Murillo (5): after a loss of the ball in a defensive position which gave Lille the first shot, he made two good offensive runs in the first half but his two crosses were blocked (and the first almost ended up in the net of Mannone). Author of a loss of ball in front of his area at the start of the second half which gave Lille a great opportunity, he made a great opening for Greenwood but let the Lille striker go in front of de Lange.
Derek Cornelius (5): a nice release on an offensive corner but a header off target, a good intervention in the area and a good tackle before being caught behind his back on the northern goal, the Canadian gave way to Vaz to try to come back to the score at the end of the match.
Robinio Vaz (not rated): a surprise entry at the end of the match for his first appearance with the pros because he was the only offensive player on the bench, he made a nice acceleration where he obtained a free kick as well as a precise opening. An interesting entry for the very young (17 years old) reserve striker.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (7): a great clearance/relaunch on a Lille corner which became a precise opening for Greenwood, a good recovery and a pass from outside for Maupay as well as a good shot returned by the goalkeeper for a solid performance where he was mainly present in the recovery in the midfield.
Valentin Rongier (5.5): activity in the middle, notably a good intervention against a very solid opponent.
Bilal Nadir (not noted): entered for the last 20 minutes in place of Rongier for a more offensive option and to return to the score, he put himself forward on a good defensive tackle and was not precise enough on several offensive balls on the right side.
Adrien Rabiot (5.5): a nice pass for Maupay with a header, a good ball in front of the area not very well negotiated, a good defensive return but also a missed pass in the middle at the start of a good Lille action, he was happy to register the fourth shot on goal because his ball passed under the northern goalkeeper.
Mason Greenwood (5.5): after a failed recovery at the start of the match, he made a good acceleration but ended with an imprecise pass. Often on the left in the first half (by swapping with Rabiot), it was on this side that he lost a duel with the goalkeeper after an ultra-fast counter 10 minutes from half-time. Much less to his advantage after the break, he still fired a powerful shot that hit the post in stoppage time. First shooter in the penalty shootout, he did not tremble.
Neal Maupay – The Best Of Neal Maupay (5.5): a lot of play with his back to goal in the duel with the northern defenders but also a great cross for Henrique and a goal with his arm before the break when he was in front of the almost empty goal. After a good full-axis ball with a failed control where he took a card, he probably went out to avoid a second yellow.
Jonathan Rowe (not noted): entered shortly after the hour mark as center forward, he took the corners from the left, made a blocked shot then he should have won a penalty 10 minutes from the end (but he there is no VAR in the Coupe de France at this level). He was the fifth shooter in the decisive session and his shot was returned.
After a very good match, at Champions League level, against a super strong opponent, OM snatched a draw at the end of stoppage time but did not manage to qualify, Lille being better in the penalty shootout.
Individual performances were strong overall. Leonardo Balerdi was the best while Ulisses Garcia was too discreet.
We will have to recover from the disappointment and the waste of energy to move forward in the Championship because now only this competition remains for the Olympians to shine during this season.
